Music – Page 9 – Frames of Reference

Six From Anne Davies

We just hung six new paintings by Anne Davies, though since we had one of them already, strictly speaking I suppose only five are new. But it’s a new sextet. Here’s what Anne said about them –

I spent time walking the Bermondsey Wall to Rotherhithe and then, on the other side, Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse. Canary Wharf was less inspiring but still interesting in a different way! I was also inspired by the lovely Ewan MacColl song ‘Sweet Thames Flow Softly’. I don’t know if you know it but it tells the tale of two people falling in love along the banks of the river, and then one of them thinks better of it in the end. I recommend the Rufus and Martha Wainwright version! Continue reading “Six From Anne Davies”

Polka

Polka by Mark Morris. The dance uses a piece for violin and piano by contemporary composer Lou Harrison. Morris was taken by its final movement, called, strangely enough, “polka.”

I always start with a piece of music. I’m not doing, like, a musicological analysis and writing a paper or anything, but I’m figuring out in my mind what makes that particular piece work. So my intention is to say through dancing exactly what I think is being said through music.

Because I heard that “polka,” I said I must choreograph this right now. And to me, it sounds very, very ancient. And so I wanted to make up a dance that was evocative and a little mysterious and seemed like maybe people had been doing it for hundreds or thousands of years. That was my assignment.

Art Ensemble Of Chicago

The Art Ensemble of Chicago play tonight at Café Oto, but I’m too late to get tickets, they’re all sold out. Instead I remember their performance at The Roundhouse in 1982, as part of the Camden Jazz Festival. They were astonishing and spectacular, unlike any other band, and able to encapsulate the whole history of jazz with wild improvisations and swinging ensemble playing and breathtaking solos. They were sweet and fiery and dynamic and funny and possibly the best band I ever saw. Here are four videos from Polish television of a performance in Warsaw, probably from the same tour, and the closest I can find to my memory of that fantastic night in Camden. Continue reading “Art Ensemble Of Chicago”

Protection

Then I stumbled upon this cry for help from Lucinda Williams
and it felt universal, like she’s crying to the trees for all of us.

Oya

My twin daughters suggested this video by Ibeyi, a French-Cuban musical duo consisting of twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz.

They sing in English and Yoruba — a Nigerian language their ancestors spoke before being brought to Cuba by the Spanish to be made slaves in the 1700s — though Lisa’s is the lead voice, Naomi plays traditional Peruvian/Cuban percussion instruments cajón and Batá drum, while Lisa also plays piano. Ibeyi (Ìbejì) is Yoruba for “twins”.

Ibeyi

Homage To Andrei Tarkovsky

The Tarkovsky Quartet – François Couturier, piano; Anja Lechner, violoncello; Jean-Louis Matinier, accordion; Jean-Marc Larché, soprano saxophone – at the Nostalgia Festival, Poznań in 2013.

Andrei Tarkovsky is my favourite filmmaker. “Andrei Rublev” was a revelation for me. Since then I have seen all his films over and over again… They are long poems, hypnotic in their slowness, and pervaded with spirituality. There is very little music in them. Tarkovsky used to say, “It’s my personal conviction that a film does not need music at all.” Anyway, he was a master of using it.

So I did not seek to make ‘scenic’ music of any kind but have tried, instead, to represent in each piece a specific emotion linked to the universe of this director – to his films, of course, but also to some of his favourite actors (Anotoli Solonitsyn, Erland Josephson) or composers (Bach, Pergolesi). Or even to the very original way he plays with shades of colour (“Crépusculaire”). This is our way of paying tribute to this great artist.

François Couturier

Continue reading “Homage To Andrei Tarkovsky”

Andrei Tarkovsky, Cinema Of The Soul

And then I found this short homage by Martin Kessler. It’s a collection of well-chosen clips from some of Tarkovsky’s best films, beautifully woven together with music by Beethoven and Bach, to produce a sampler that just leaves me wanting to see more of these memorable moving images.

Open Culture: Andrei Tarkovsky

Liberation Music Orchestra

Liberation Music Orchestra came together in 1969 under the direction of Charlie Haden, inspired by songs of the Spanish Civil War, playing music arranged by Carla Bley in protest at the American war in Vietnam. This recording is of a concert in 2004 at the Jazz in Marciac festival in southwest France. The list of songs might appear elegiac but they’re full of fire and celebration – America The Beautiful (Traditional), Throughout (Bill Frisell), Amazing Grace (Traditional), This Is Not America (Pat Metheny), Going Home (Traditional), Adagio (Samuel Barber). They’re performing tonight at the Cadogan Hall, sadly without Charlie Haden, but very much in his name. I think there’ll be a lot of love for Charlie, and for Carla, and maybe too there’ll be some in memory of America.

※

Perfection

Perfection is a tune by Ornette Coleman, one he performed but never recorded. It was transcribed directly from his alto saxophone by Bobby Bradford in the early 1960s, and given to David Murray in 1974. This recording was made shortly after Ornette Coleman died last year, and dedicated in his honour. Perfection is also the title track of an altogether stunning new album by David Murray (tenor saxophone & bass clarinet), Terri Lyne Carrington (drums) & Geri Allen (piano), who go by the name of MCA Power Trio. They’re joined on this piece by Charnett Moffett (bass) and Craig Harris (trombone). The trio are playing tonight as part of the London Jazz Festival at the Cadogan Hall.

For Don Cherry

Don Cherry would have been 80 today. I can’t let it pass without posting a little tribute. This film was recorded live at the Empire Theatre, Paris in 1979. Don plays doussn’gouni, pocket trumpet, piano, and he also sings. I’m not sure who the other musicians are but I recognise Trilok Gurtu on drums. It’s a wonderful performance. Don was always my favourite. Handmade and heartfelt music was his speciality. It seems now we need his healing spirit more than ever.

He never worried. About anything. Ever. It was amazing. If he saw someone else worrying, even a total stranger, he’d try to cheer them up. Tell them jokes. He was always raising people’s spirits, encouraging them. – Charlie Haden

※

Cherry Street / Terry Riley / Walk To The Mountain / Sounds And Silence